NCAA Pick 5 - 2014 edition

[Butter]

Rules

You pick five teams from this year's NCAA Tournament field. Points are awarded based on how far each of your teams advance, with bonus points given based on the team's seed. You get one point for winning in the Second (formerly first) round, 2 for the Third Round, 3 for the regional semis, 4 for the regional finals, 5 for the national semifinal, and 6 for the national championship. Then, for each game your team wins, you get points that match the number of seed they are.

For example, say you picked Wichita State (a No. 1 seed), and they advanced to the Final Four. You would get: (1+1) + (2+1) + (3+1) + (4+1) = 14 points for selecting the Shockers. Or, if you pick Mercer, and they win 2 games, they would get (14+1) + (14+2) = 31 points.

As you can see, a well placed 10+ seeded team notching an upset or two is just as valuable as a 1 or 2 seed going to the Final 4.

First Four games do not count towards any point totals.

Good luck, everyone! Any questions, just post them here. Post your picks here, too.

If you want to change your picks, just edit your post. Any posts with an edit time of after Thursday, noon Eastern will be ruled ineligible.

[Butter]

Previous winners:

2006 (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=48063) - TazFTW, 83 pts.
2007 (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=57517) - ram, 89 pts.
2008 - No game
2009 (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=71337) - mauboy1, 87 pts.
2010 (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=77098) - ntndeacon, 98 pts.
2011 (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=80901) - timmynausea, 100 pts.
2012 (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=83643) - Coffee Warlord / gstelmack, co-champions, 70 pts.
2013 (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=86771) - Lathum, 101 pts.

Lathum set a game record, netting a combined 62 points for getting Louisville and Michigan in the final game right, then supplementing with 27 points on Oregon, 12 for OSU, and a complete whiff on Wisconsin.

[mauchow]

I see two very obvious picks that will be on 95% of lists.

[Butter]

Gotta go with the A10 again.

(11) Dayton
(10) St. Joseph's
(5) St. Louis
(5) VCU
(6) UMass

Can't squeeze in GW, even if they win their first game, they aren't winning their second.

[britrock88]

My worst competition! Looking forward to taking another stab at it.

[mauchow]

(11) Tennessee
(4) Louisville
(4) Michigan St
(8) Kentucky
(2) Wisconsin (Homer pick!)

[Marmel]

11 Tennessee/Iowa
8 Kentucky
9 Oklahoma State
7 Uconn
13 Stephen F Austin

[Lathum]

1- Florida
4- Louisville
4- Michigan State
9- Oklahoma St
3- Duke

[Young Drachma]

3) Creighton
1) Wichita State
4) Louisville
10) BYU
9) Oklahoma State

[Sublime 2]

7. UConn
4. Michigan State
8. Kentucky
11. Dayton
10. BYU

[QuikSand]

11 Dayton
11 Tenn/Iowa
8 Kentucky
4 Louisville
4 Michigan State

[digamma]

6 UNC
11 TN/Iowa
4 Louisville
7 Connecticut
4 UCLA

[Scarecrow]

4) Louisville
4) Michigan St
6) Baylor
8) Kentucky
12) SF Austin

[TRO]

13 Tulsa
11 Tennessee/Iowa
9 Oklahoma St
8 Kentucky
3 Iowa St

[Karlifornia]

4) San Diego State
13) Delaware
2) Kansas
10) Arizona State
3) Creighton

[wade moore]

3 Creighton
5 VCU
12 NDSU
13 Delaware
2 Michigan

[Ragone]

4 Louisville
4 Michigan state
11 Providence
4 UCLA
12 NDSU

[muns]

10-St. Joseph's
4-Michigan State
6-Baylor
3-Duke
6-North Carolina

[britrock88]

(3) Creighton
(4) Louisville
(4) Michigan State
(6) Ohio State
(11) Iowa/Tennessee

[ntndeacon]

(1) Florida
(2) Wisconsin
(3) Iowa St
(6) Ohio St
(12) NC St.

[henry296]

Kentucky
UConn
Ohio State
Duke
Michigan State

[bhlloy]

11 Tenn/Iowa
4 Michigan State
4 Louisville
3 Duke
8 Kentucky

[jbergey22]

4 Louisville
4 Michigan St
6 North Carolina
6 Baylor
8 Kentucky

[Julio Riddols]

9 Pitt
4 Louisville
13 New Mexico State
7 Oregon
3 Creighton

[Vince, Pt. II]

(7) Oregon
(11) Tennessee
(10) St. Joseph's
(8) Kentucky
(5) VCU

[Chief Rum]

(9) Oklahoma State
(11) Tennessee
(4) Louisville
(3) Iowa State
(2) Villanova

[Thomkal]

(4)UCLA
(4)MSU
(4)Louisville
(7)New Mexico
(12)NDSU

[Butter]

2 hours. Surely we can get this thing to 30 players.

[kingfc22]

(3) Iowa St
(3) Syracuse
(4) Louisville
(9) Oklahoma st
(11) Tennessee

[hoopsguy]

(4) Louisville
(4) Michigan State
(6) North Carolina
(9) Oklahoma State
(11) Dayton

[Warhammer]

(4) Michigan State
(7) New Mexico
(12) North Dakota State
(12) NC State
(3) Creighton

[Butter]

Got 26 in, which is right around last year's number. 38 different teams were picked.

[Butter]

Spreadsheet is online.

FOF NCAA Pick 5 - 2014.xlsx - Google Drive (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1ZJu1zESKXtYU02cklJVnA3RUU/edit?usp=sharing)

[Butter]

Standings after Day 1:

[mauchow]

Still got all five. Woot.

[Butter]

Day 2 standings... lot of strong scores here. Days 3 and 4 will really start to reveal the contenders:

[Butter]

Spreadsheet is online.

FOF NCAA Pick 5 - 2014.xlsx - Google Drive (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1ZJu1zESKXtYU02cklJVnA3RUU/edit?usp=sharing)

Updated.

[Butter]

The A10 gambit not paying off. UMass was the only team that wasn't in their game, VCU should've won their game, and St. Joe's went to OT. Oh well.

[mauchow]

Only way I can beat quiksand is if dayton loses today and WI wins a couple more.

[Ragone]

another ndsu win would really help.. damnit providence loss hurt

[mauchow]

Trying to work the math here to see if I even have a chance now.

Wisconsin has the (long-shot) possibility of scoring, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 for a total of 25 points. You just picked up 13 and 14 for 27 on Dayton. I am already knocked out of this challenge, thanks to you, jerk! :mad: ;)
(11) Tennessee
(4) Louisville
(4) Michigan St
(8) Kentucky
(2) Wisconsin (Homer pick!)


11 Dayton
11 Tenn/Iowa
8 Kentucky
4 Louisville
4 Michigan State

EDITED: Ah, scratch that, bad math on my part. There would be a possible 6 wins so we still have a chance but only if Wisconsin wins the Championship. Okay, I'm effed!

[QuikSand]

LIKE

[mauchow]

LIKE

Bah.. At least Stanford opened up as 2 pt faves. Should be a good one.

[Butter]

I am out of town until Monday night so I will update scoring as soon as I'm able.

[hoopsguy]

Add me to the list of mathematically eliminated, as I have same remaining teams as QuikSand but fewer points through two rounds.

[Butter]

Spreadsheet updated. Quik kinda nailed the sweet spot this year, he got 2 lower seeds that have made it to the Sweet 16, and the 3 mid-range seed picks have also panned out.

So it's over for many of us (especially Karlifornia), but not all by any stretch. If UConn, Baylor, Wisconsin, and UCLA continue to do well and any of them can make it to the Final 4, then Quik's position is definitely in trouble. However if Dayton puts up another win, it'll be REAL tough for anyone to make up ground.

[mauchow]

Damn.. likely a record breaking year. NJ QS

[britrock88]

By my math, the only folks who can still win are the top 6. And QS has so many picks in common with the other 5 that some of them have very narrow opportunities to win (mauchow's entirely dependent on Wisconsin and Scarecrow's on Baylor, for example). Brutal.

[mauchow]

Jeez, I'm out and I haven't lost anybody.....

[Butter]

Spreadsheet updated.

Here are the standings. It's a 2 horse race. Sublime 2 needs Kentucky to win tonight, Tennessee to lose, and UConn to win out to at least the final game. If they do that, he can win. Otherwise, it's going to be QS's game. Impressive by mauchow and QS to not have lost any teams by Day 6 of the tournament.

QS is obliterating the field, already having captured the single year scoring record, and guaranteed of points tonight with the winner of UK/UL. The fact that there is still someone mathematically alive is impressive against those picks.

[Butter]

Apparently, my math was off. Sublime 2 was behind 19 points heading into Friday. 2 wins by UConn would put him ahead, since (7+3)+(7+4)=21.

And that's exactly what happened. Tough luck for more than one player. Sublime 2 could theoretically be picking up 25 more points as well if we have a UConn/UK final. But as it is, he is already the winner... it's just a matter of by how much.

4 players have already broken the game's scoring record, with 5 more possibly getting there with the right set of results.

Marmel could move up into 2nd with a UConn national title and a Wisconsin win over Kentucky.

mauchow could move into 3rd with a Wisconsin win and a UConn loss. But that's about it. Sublime 2 will be this year's champion! Congrats.

Here are the standings prior to the Final 4:

[mauchow]

Record breaking year!!

[Sublime 2]

Thought I had no chance after losing BYU in the first round.

At any rate, WHOOOOOOOOOO!

[Butter]

Sublime 2 would have broken the scoring record with just UConn and Kentucky.

Standings prior to final game:

[Butter]

If Kentucky wins, they will finish with 69 points by themselves, and 11 different players will have broken the previous scoring record.

[britrock88]

Remember thinking that QS's score was unbeatable???

[Julio Riddols]

my 33 feels like a kick in the pooper. I nearly took kentucky but let my personal hatred of them get in the way.. I was nowhere near picking Kentucky AND UConn though.

I also think this season will be the season that produces a score which may not ever even be possible to beat in the future.

[Butter]

Final count for the winner... 175 points, shattering the previous scoring record of 101. 9 players broke 100 overall. Marmel slides into 2nd place thanks to the UConn national championship.

FINAL STANDINGS:

[Butter]

And final standings by points for the teams. Sublime 2 picked the top 3 teams, which netted 157 points alone.

[Thomkal]

Congrats Sublime! Thanks for running this Butter!